Chapter 45

She was like a graceful white swan, preening every feather on her body in the pure lake water. Every movement was so beautiful, dreamlike and illusory.

Perhaps it was precisely that natural ease, that carefree abandon, which gave her such beauty.

Up in the tree, Ning Chang'an felt his throat go dry as a wicked thought surged into his heart. Yet he did not move. He desperately restrained the blasphemous desire flooding his heart, his body stiff as though turned to stone.

What he wanted to see was only this beautiful scene, not a woman flustered and at a loss, humiliated and furious.

He had even forgotten to wonder how such a peerless beauty had appeared in these deep mountains, leisurely bathing in such a secluded, crystal-clear pool.

The mountains were dangerous. Fierce beasts and venomous insects lurked everywhere. Was she not afraid, all alone?!

Ning Chang'an merely watched and thought of nothing else. He had never seen Yu Fu bathe, nor had he ever touched a woman before. Yet at this moment, a thought suddenly arose in his heart—to hold the woman in the pool in the palm of his hand. Men and women had always possessed an inexplicable attraction, especially at the age when spring stirrings first awakened.

Splash. With a sound of water, Lin Ying lightly leaped ashore. Half an hour had already passed. Her exquisite body was instantly and completely revealed to Ning Chang'an's gaze. The tree stood less than ten feet from the pool, and Ning Chang'an could see with exceptional clarity. Lin Ying's legs were long, straight, and firm. Her figure was slender without lacking fullness, plump and lean in just the right measure. Her skin was fair and lustrous, like congealed cream, as if it could break with a breath or a touch.

A beauty emerging from her bath, a heavenly fragrance and beauty capable of toppling a nation.

Lin Ying slightly closed her eyes, her whole body bathed in bright sunlight. Steam rose around her, and under the shining light, the mist transformed into thin sheets of seven-colored rosy haze.

Ning Chang'an stared, dumbstruck, his heart trembling.

After the time it took to burn an incense stick, Lin Ying's raven-black hair had half dried, and the moisture on her body had all evaporated. Only then did she slowly open her eyes, straighten her long hair, casually coil it up, and stride toward the tree on her long legs.

At that instant, Ning Chang'an was tense to the extreme, his heart lodged in his throat.

Had he been discovered?! No, no—it was her clothes. All of Lin Ying's clothes hung beneath the tree where Ning Chang'an was hiding. Ning Chang'an had tied himself to the tree, so he could not see what was happening below.

Unaware of anything, Lin Ying walked beneath the tree and began putting on her close-fitting garments.

However, when she picked up the first piece of clothing, her brows suddenly furrowed. It was a plain white silk undergarment without the slightest trace of another color, yet Lin Ying saw a small crimson stain, like a plum blossom, on it. It was a spot of blood. Her face turned pale, and an ominous premonition rose in her heart.

She had not been injured, so how could there be blood on her undergarment?

As though guided by ghosts and gods, Lin Ying subconsciously raised her head. Amid the dense branches, she immediately saw a vague human silhouette.

"Ah..."

Naked, Lin Ying let out an incomparably shrill, drawn-out scream.

Ning Chang'an's ears buzzed. The scream pierced into them, practically rupturing his eardrums. Darkness fell before his eyes, and he fainted. It was precisely this unparalleled scream that left an incomparably deep impression on Ning Chang'an, as though branded into his mind.

When Ning Chang'an suddenly regained consciousness again, he found that he was no longer in the tree, but in the pool where Lin Ying had bathed. He had not a shred of strength and struggled weakly in the pool, gulping down mouthful after mouthful of stream water. His ravenous stomach was instantly filled with cool water.

Lin Ying stood quietly on the shore, looking coldly at Ning Chang'an. Only when Ning Chang'an was nearly drowned in the pool did she suddenly strike, hauling him out of the water.

Half the pool had been dyed red by Ning Chang'an's blood. Ning Chang'an lay in a sorry state upon the grass, vomiting water in great mouthfuls, with scarlet blood mixed into it.

Lin Ying seemed exceptionally patient. Only after Ning Chang'an had vomited out all the blood and water in his stomach and stopped retching did she coldly question, "Speak. What were you doing here?"

Ning Chang'an coughed violently and answered honestly, "Running for my life, hiding from pursuit!"

Lin Ying asked again, "How did you end up in the tree?"

Ning Chang'an gave a bitter smile. "With nowhere left to run, I could only hide in the tree and tie myself tightly so I would not fall. In the end, the pain became unbearable, and I fainted. You... why did you throw me into the water?" He took the chance to question her in return. He absolutely could not let Lin Ying know that he had actually been awake all along.

Lin Ying's gaze flickered. Looking down at Ning Chang'an, she coldly said, "If I hadn't thrown you into the water, would you have awakened?"

Ning Chang'an muttered, "My life is tough. I would have awakened sooner or later!"

Lin Ying snorted coldly. "You don't know what's good for you!" She raised her foot and gave Ning Chang'an's waist a vicious kick. From that one kick alone, Ning Chang'an knew that Lin Ying knew martial arts, and that she was no weakling. A layer of cold sweat unknowingly seeped across Ning Chang'an's forehead. He felt his five viscera and six bowels shake violently, let out a miserable cry, and spat out a mouthful of blood. Lin Ying watched with an icy expression, utterly unmoved. Ning Chang'an knew that although this woman appeared calm and composed, she suspected him in her heart and did not believe his words. Ning Chang'an inwardly smiled bitterly and became even more determined to keep his mouth sealed. If he revealed the truth, he feared the woman would be humiliated beyond endurance and kill him on the spot.

Was this a romantic encounter?!

Ning Chang'an could only smile bitterly.

After Ning Chang'an spat out that mouthful of blood, his face, which had been pale and bloodless, took on a sickly purple hue.

Seeing this, Lin Ying's expression changed slightly. Only then did she ask, "You suffered internal injuries?"

Ning Chang'an nodded, weak and listless.

Lin Ying crouched halfway down and probed several places around Ning Chang'an's chest and waist. Her brows drew together as she said in surprise, "Your five viscera and six bowels have all shifted out of place, and many of your meridians are shattered. Yet you still haven't died. Your life truly is tough!"

Ning Chang'an silently sighed bitterly. This was all thanks to Yang Qingling's "excellent instruction." He had been beaten from childhood into adulthood, living a life like purgatory. If there was any benefit to it, perhaps not fearing injury or beatings was the greatest one.

Lin Ying straightened up, gave Ning Chang'an a few appraising looks, and said, "Meeting me is your good fortune!" Lin Ying turned and walked beneath the tree. Only then did Ning Chang'an see that there was actually a large bamboo basket there, filled with all sorts of freshly gathered herbal and woody medicinal plants. At last, he understood why Lin Ying had appeared alone in such wilderness—the depths of these barren mountains and ancient forests. She had come to gather medicine.

Lin Ying took several dozen kinds of medicinal herbs from the basket, carefully ground them in a mortar according to a certain proportion, then handed them to Ning Chang'an. "Eat this."

Ning Chang'an wrinkled his nose and unwillingly said, "Can raw medicine be eaten?" He was also someone who often dealt with healing medicines. Long illness made the patient into a doctor, and he had some understanding of medicinal principles. Generally speaking, medicinal herbs were unsuitable for eating raw; they had to undergo certain processing before they could be used as medicine. Some medicines were not only ineffective when eaten raw, but harmful and toxic.

Lin Ying said, "Treat a dead horse as if it were alive. No harm in trying."

Ning Chang'an muttered, "I'm not dead yet, so how did I become a dead horse?!" The medicine truly smelled sharp and unpleasant. Ning Chang'an did not actually want to eat it. He feared Lin Ying's suspicions ran too deep and that she might use this inexplicable medicine to harm him. After all, he really had seen every inch of her body.

Lin Ying simply held the medicine and gazed at Ning Chang'an. Her expression was tranquil and cold, and she was extraordinarily patient. It was as though she knew that Ning Chang'an would eventually swallow the medicine.

Sure enough, Ning Chang'an finally ate every last bit of it. The medicine tasted awful—bitter, pungent, and filled with a choking odor that was nearly impossible to swallow. As soon as Ning Chang'an ate it, he felt unable to move at all, his entire body stiff and dead.

His heart thudded, and he inwardly sighed that it was over. His consciousness began to blur, then everything went black, and he lost consciousness.

He thought he had died.

Yet he woke once more. When Ning Chang'an awoke again, he was still beside the pool. Only, there was now a campfire on the grass, with food roasting over it. It smelled like mountain pheasant. Ning Chang'an was starving, and the moment he caught the scent of pheasant, he could not help swallowing a mouthful of saliva. Only later did he learn that he had been unconscious for three days. In other words, he had gone three full days without food or drink, so hungry that there was not a trace of oil in his belly.

Ning Chang'an discovered that he could move, so he slowly sat up and looked eagerly at Lin Ying as she roasted the pheasant. At this moment, this pheasant dripping with fat was far more tempting than Lin Ying's exquisite naked body.

Lin Ying quietly went about her task, her expression focused.

The pheasant was finally done. Lin Ying lifted her head and looked at Ning Chang'an. "Eat with me!"

Ning Chang'an was deeply moved. He thought that he could finally fill his starving belly and savor something delicious, only to discover that Lin Ying casually tossed a bundle of wild fruit before him. She had no intention of sharing the fragrant roasted pheasant. Ning Chang'an instantly felt as though a bucket of cold water had been splashed over his face. The bitterness of it was beyond words. He froze for a moment, only coming back to himself after the bundle of wild fruit knocked him to the ground.

As Lin Ying ate with great relish, she said, "With your injuries, you are not suited to greasy food. Eating it would only harm you instead!"

Ning Chang'an felt slightly comforted. Subconsciously, he said, "You saved me!" In truth, his heart was filled with guilt.

Lin Ying said, "Is saving people wrong?"

Ning Chang'an was speechless. After a long silence, he finally said, "Ning Family's Chang'an. And you?"

Lin Ying remained silent and did not answer. They did not exchange another word for the entire night. In the middle of the night, Ning Chang'an took the medicine again and, as expected, fainted once more. When he awoke, Lin Ying was gone, leaving behind only a pile of extinguished firewood.

From then on, he never formally met Lin Ying again. Even later, when Ning Chang'an happened to learn Lin Ying's name, he could no longer find the slightest trace of her. Until tonight, this was their first reunion.

Scenes from the past flashed through Ning Chang'an's mind one after another. Only now did Ning Chang'an realize that Lin Ying had known from the beginning that he was lying. Yet she had still saved him—returning resentment with virtue, one might say. Her hatred and anger were only natural.

When she said that saving people was not wrong, Ning Chang'an had already felt that she was a good person. In this world, there were not many people who could be judged simply as good or bad.

Ning Chang'an was not among them.

Lin Ying's clear beauty and indifference seemed inborn. Like her patience that surpassed ordinary people, they had seeped into her bones, becoming an inseparable part of her and forming her very temperament. She was sparing with her smiles. That faint smile, its meaning difficult to discern, flashed across her face like a tiny ripple in a clear spring—appearing only to return at once to stillness.